Voice of the people (letter).

Working Together To Save Children

October 22, 1999|By Rev. Michael L. Pfleger, Pastor, Community of St. Sabina.

CHICAGO — I'm surprised and shocked at Rabbi Ira Youdovin's intemperate attack on the Mentoring Connection program being launched by the Chicago Public Schools ("Have faith? The problem with giving religious evangelizers free access to students," Commentary, Oct. 13). This program envisions linking troubled students with mentors recruited from the community, police and fire departments, schools and (particularly) the religious community. The mentors will give young people a positive voice in their lives, one to counter the negative influences around them, and put in place what every psychologist and child therapist tells us is missing in the lives of troubled youth: caring adults willing to reach out to them.

Because many mentors are being recruited from and through churches and other religious bodies, Youdovin is alarmed that youngsters may be evangelized to join a church. But, as the Tribune pointed out in its Oct. 13 editorial, the program is recruiting mentors, not missionaries. At least 80 percent of the mentors being signed up through the churches are lay people who simply want to help young people. Clergy who volunteer as mentors will understand the strict guidelines to ensure all activity is constitutional.

I do not understand his hostility to working through the religious community to help young men and women. The fact is, clergy are routinely used by hospitals and by courts to help troubled teens. The juvenile justice system assigns troubled youth to religious institutions for work and support. The school system is simply trying to help children before they commit a crime or end up in a grave. If the courts can use clergy as mentors, why can't the schools?

This article by my colleague also attacks the Interfaith Community Partnership (in which both he and I have worked) with the schools, but his accusations are wrong. The grants from ICP were not awarded for political reasons. The steering committee monitored the grants with extreme scrutiny. They went to groups that rendered very real services to school children. For instance, the Near North Ministerial Association worked with schools in Cabrini-Green to reduce crime in the area, increase safety for children and support the educational programs of the schools. Partly due to this help, all the schools in the area are off academic probation.

The grants program is not a "cash cow" for favored churches or ministers, nor is it a means for church to proselytize among children. The grants are helping students do better in school and give them the tools to succeed.

Similarly the new Mentor Connection program will not result in children being coerced into joining churches. It will help them find a moral foundation in their lives. It is possible that some youngsters may opt to become members of a faith community (not necessarily the same as their mentor). Wouldn't that be preferable to their joining a street gang?

Churches and schools are the two most powerful influences (outside the family) in a child's life. It is simply good sense for them to work together on behalf of young people, and we can do it without violating the 1st Amendment.

There is an awesome opportunity before us to save our children, our greatest and most valuable resource. The Mentor Connection is not the end-all, but, until a better idea comes up, I say let's do something rather than continue to talk about how we're losing them.